British Academy Film Awards — 2 wins, 1 nominationAcademy Awards — 1 nominationKids' Choice Award — 1 nominationSaturn Award — 1 nominationAll 2 wins · 4 nominations on record
British Academy Film Awards: Best Special Visual Effects
Scholarship
Named in the title of 1 peer-reviewed work
Examples
Sources: Wikidata · OpenAlex · Library of Congress. The record of the motion picture, not an assessment of this cell.
FILM NOTES
Back to the Future Part II arrived in 1989 from Universal Pictures, sequel to one of the decade's defining blockbusters, pushing Robert Zemeckis's time-travel saga into the future, an alternate past, and a darker version of Hill Valley. It expanded the mythology built around Marty McFly and Doc Brown, doubling down on the original's mix of comedy, invention, and science-fiction spectacle, and it remains a touchstone for fans who trace the franchise's ambition to this middle chapter.
This cell centers on the pairing that anchors the entire trilogy, Marty McFly and Dr. Emmett Brown, whose partnership drives every plot turn across the series. Collectors seek strips featuring these two together because their dynamic, the restless teenager and the eccentric inventor, is the emotional core audiences return to. A frame preserving them side by side speaks to the shared journey itself, the trust and friction between them, without needing dialogue or setting to carry that meaning. It stands as a piece of the partnership that made the saga endure.
Authentication Findings8 checks
Consistent with a 35mm theatrical release print of Back to the Future Part II.
Gauge
35mm, four perforations per frame on both edges; the strip holds three frames.
Perforations
Four per frame on each edge, evenly spaced; punched edges appear clean with no torn or missing perforations visible.
Soundtrack
A variable-area optical track is visible running along one edge beside the perforations, appearing as a dual-bilateral (two-track) waveform pattern.
Edge print
Text reading 'SAFETY FILM' is visible along the upper edge; additional alphanumeric key numbers or codes are present but not fully legible in this capture.
Base & colour
The base appears clear with a slight cool tint; the dye image shows warm, saturated colour consistent with an intact colour print.
Projection history
Light horizontal scratching is visible across the frame area, consistent with a print that has passed through a projector gate.
Picture
Positive colour image; all three frames appear to be consecutive frames from a single continuous shot, consistent with a release print of Back to the Future Part II.
Era check
The dual-bilateral variable-area optical track, SAFETY FILM base stock, and saturated Eastmancolor-type dye image are all consistent with a theatrical release print from the late 1980s.
Read from the original intake capture shown below. Observations only — film is authenticated, not graded.
This original motion picture film element has been examined and authenticated by Crown Grading in partnership with National Film Vault, and encapsulated for archival preservation.
Why so little survivesRelease prints were leased to theaters, not sold. When the run ended they went back to the distributor to be destroyed, and most were. What collectors hold today came from the prints that escaped that order, and no new 35mm prints of these films are being struck.
CROWN SERIAL 000064176
Original Film CaptureAs received
Photographed on the light panel at intake, before encapsulation — tap to open full size
Tap to enlarge
